Simone Biles tried to treat the 2016 Summer Olympics like just your average ordinary gymnastics meet. So what if the stage and the stakes were different? The floor was still the floor. The vault still the vault. The uneven bars still uneven. The balance beam still a four-inch wide test of nerves. And the 19-year-old with the electric smile and boundless talent was still the best in the world. Maybe the best of all-time. Over the course of 10 days in August, the biggest meet of her life ended like pretty much all the others in the four years that came before it, with Biles standing atop the podium, a gold medal around her neck and the sport she’s redefining one boundary-pushing routine
Tag: gold
U.S. finishes Olympics with 121 total medals
By TIM REYNOLDS AP Sports Writer RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The U.S. Olympic Team made itself right at home in Rio. The British, they had a Games to savor as well. The host Brazilians got soccer gold that they craved, the Russians struggled on the heels of the exposure of a state-sponsored doping program, and the Chinese finished well below expectations. So went the medal race at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, where the Americans – with women leading the way – dominated both the gold and overall totals. The U.S. finished with 46 gold medals and 121 medals overall, its 51-total-medal margin over second-place China the largest in a non-boycotted Olympics in nearly a century. “This experience has been the dream of a lifetime
USA Basketball’s Rio Olympics Gold Medal Run A Sign World Falling Behind Again?
The United States didn’t send its best possible men’s basketball team to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. Not even close. The squad played some sloppy basketball with too much one-on-one play and inconsistent outside shooting. None of it mattered, though, as the Americans cruised to another gold medal — their third straight and sixth in the last seven Olympics — with a 96-66 win over Serbia on Sunday. The U.S. completely dominated the Olympics with the Dream Team and Dream Team II in 1992 and 1996, respectively. The world began to catch up, though, and that was evident in 2000. By the time the 2004 Athens Games came around, the U.S. was
Neymar and Brazil strike Olympic gold on penalties
Neymar coolly converted the decisive penalty to win Brazil's first gold medal in the Men's Olympic Football Tournament, the hosts defeating Germany 5-4 in a shoot-out after a 1-1 draw at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro.Eight spot kicks had been scored when Freiburg's Nils Petersen – on target six times in Germany's run to the final – had his effort saved by Weverton.That set the stage for the Barcelona forward to step up and end Brazil's wait for the only piece of silverware to have eluded them and ease some of the pain inflicted by Germany's 7-1 victory over the Seleção in the 2014 FIFA World Cup semi-finals, a game Neymar missed due to a fractured vertebra. ... UEFA.com - News
A look back at the memorable moments from Rio
By TIM REYNOLDS AP Sports Writer RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Michael Phelps won more medals than anyone else, again. And then he said farewell, also again. Usain Bolt kissed the finish line goodbye after enhancing his Olympic legacy. Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky delivered under the burden of enormous expectations. Two strangers went from rivals to forever-linked by a display of kindness, an entire island seemed to celebrate a tennis match, and a gold medalist scampered home to avoid legal issues after a robbery story unraveled. And then the home team won soccer gold. The Rio de Janeiro Olympics were not perfect. But there were moments — some great, some dreadful and some downright ugly — that will not, and should not, be forgotten. Here’s a
Friday roundup: Bolt says this is goodbye before winning 9th…
By ARNIE STAPLETON AP Sports Writer RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Usain Bolt bid goodbye with another gold medal. Ryan Lochte apologized on Instagram. Bolt won his ninth Olympic medal Friday night, anchoring the Jamaicans’ winning 4×100 relay team in what he has insisted will be his last Olympic race.Jamaica's Usain Bolt celebrates after he won the Men's 200m Final during the athletics event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on August 18, 2016. / AFP / Adrian DENNIS (Photo credit should read ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images) Bolt, who has won the 100, 200 and 4×100 relay gold medals at Beijing, London and now Rio, crossed in 37.27
Germany see off Sweden for Olympic gold
Germany have scooped Olympic gold for the first time in their history thanks to a 2-1 victory against Sweden in the Rio final.Dzsenifer Marozsán (48) curled Germany in front from the edge of the area and the final looked as good as over as Linda Sembrant put through her own net in the 62nd minute when Marozsán's free-kick cannoned into her after hitting the post.Stina Blackstenius (67) turned in Olivia Schough's cross 12 minutes after coming on as a substitute to give Sweden hope but they could not prise an equaliser for coach Pia Sundhage, who was aiming for a third consecutive Olympic triumph having guided the United States to gold in 2008 and 2012.Germany's succe... UEFA.com - News